Having Vs Being

Question

Hi,1. It recently broke the record of having sold at a high price of..2. It recently broke the record of being sold at a high price of..I often see the first one is being used. Can you please explain it to me as to why? Thanks!

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

shaunI often see the first one is being used. Can you please explain it to me as to why?

It is an uncommon use of "sell" as in this sentence:
Plums sell for $5 per pound.

The passive is more common:
Plums are sold for $5 per pound.

So #1 could take the two different forms:
1. It recently broke the record of having been sold at a high price of.. (passive)
1. It recently broke the record of having sold at a high price of.. (active)

Shaun · Answer

Thanks AS

It still kind of complicated for me to understand

Best,

Marold · Answer

If you are still interested in this grammar structure, the words that might help you to get a fine grasp of this are here: try to look for: UNACCUSATIVE VERBS (alternatively ERGATIVE VERBS, as the names for this may differ in grammar books despite its sameness in meaning.)

Personally, the moment I saw the sentence: "A new supermarket opened in our town." I was a little taken aback, as it was something unusual for me. When I've found out more about the grammar, it cleared my doubts about the correction of the sentence. However, as has been already said, the sentence is a little uncommon and might appear slightly odd and far more complicated than after usage of the passive voice, which should be the best option in this case.

Grammarfreak · Answer

Shaun,
If you feel unsure of the answers AlphecaStar has given you, then you may have a problem with passive structures.
It - I take it that it is an item, like gold. So if I say " Gold recently broke the record of having sold at the price of $1600 an oz." it is semantically wrong, because "having sold" is a progressive perfect construction, and only human buy and sell gold. Gold can not sell itself ". In order to convey the intended meaning, it needs to be expressed in passive form:
Gold recently broke the record being sold at [the price of] $1600 an oz." You should note that the bracketed phrase is not necessary. In fact, it sounded redundant.

shaunI often see the first one is being used. Can you please explain it to me as to why?

In fact, it is the opposite. # 2 version is the right answer.

Marold · Answer

Grammarfreak, so as a matter of fact, you are denying one of the AlphecaStar's form that he/she has given us.

So #1 could take the two different forms: (this was written by AlphecaStar)
1. It recently broke the record of having been sold at a high price of.. (passive)
1. It recently broke the record of having sold at a high price of.. (active)

Well, perhaps I am not capable to give here a satisfactory explanation, but my reasoning is that it is possible to use so. Of course, it can be expressed by the passive voice and that would be the most usual and common way.

On the other hand, it should be also conveyed by unaccusative (ergative) verbs

Note this sentence: "The book sells like crazy." - Of course, the book cannot sell itself, but the sentence can be correctly written like this. In some cases, the passive voice can be replaced by an unaccusative verb. The same idea of more possiblities of making a sentence, explained sufficently by AlphecaStar, is above.

Having Vs Being

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